Destiny 2's new PvP mode is like "the classic Halo custom game SWAT, but for Destiny"

(Image credit: Bungie)

Bungie's finally detailed Destiny 2's mysterious Momentum Control PvP mode, calling it a Destiny version of "the classic Halo custom game SWAT." This special Crucible mode will arrive on Tuesday, October 29, and will be featured during the Festival of the Lost 2019 which runs through November 19.

"While Mayhem puts focus on Supers, Momentum shifts your focus to gunplay," Bungie says. "This is a fast-paced, hair-on-fire experience where the lethality of all weapons has been cranked to 11. You’re incentivized to be aggressive as you defeat other Guardians to earn charged melees, grenades, and Supers."

Basically, guns deal way more damage and you have to get kills to use your abilities, including your Super. I shudder to think what perks like Master of Arms, Memento Mori, and Kill Clip will do to the time-to-kill for certain weapons, to say nothing of heavy ammo, which will have dramatically increased spawn rates in Momentum Control. You'll also capture Control points faster and earn more points per kill, not unlike the wild score ceiling in Mayhem. 

Once the Festival of the Lost ends and Momentum Control is phased out, Bungie says "we’ll be monitoring the community’s response to see when we want to bring it back." It sounds like a more focused, skill-based version of Mayhem - though I'd still like to see a normal playlist without Supers and heavy - and the SWAT comparison is encouraging, so I reckon it could become a mainstay of future Crucible events. 

Crucible will also receive multiple balance changes on October 29, including major Super nerfs

Austin Wood

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.